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Saturday, March 26, 2011

Accused cop killer Jamie Hood demands live television coverage of his surrender to police

Police are still trying to sort of details of what led up to a bizarre hostage standoff in Athens, Ga. where an accused cop-killer demanded his surrender to police be broadcast on live television and one of his hostages defended him after he was freed.

Jamie Hood's dramatic surrender capped a four-day long hunt for the 33-year-old, who is accused of killing an Athens-Clarke police officer on Tuesday.

The tense standoff began when Hood holed himself up in an apartment complex north of downtown Athens on Friday evening and took eight people hostage. Cops began negotiating with him, but he was frightened he would be killed by police if he surrendered.

His brother was shot by cops in 2001, which sparked fears for Hood that he too might die at the hands of police.

The video broadcast on television shows Hood coming out of the house, along with hostages, with his hands up. Immediately after, FBI teams were seen searching the house as Hood lay down on the ground and was handcuffed.

"They killed my brother," he said in the moments after his surrender, according to local television station WXIA-TV. "They were gonna kill me. I did stuff wrong. That's their job if you did something wrong, you know."

He also seemingly admitted to killing the officer, who police said he shot during a traffic stop. Another officer was also shot in the incident and is recovering.

"I regret killing that officer," he said after the arrest according to WXIA. "That innocent officer didn't deserve that. I regret that."

His mother, Azalee Hood, who had watched the arrest live on television, said she contacted police after her son called her on Friday.

"He said 'Momma I'm gonna turn myself in," she told the TV station. "I just thank the Lord it's over and no one else was hurt. I am feeling relieved."

Shortly after the hostages were freed one of the hostages, Quinton Riden, defended the accused cop killer, saying that he had let his children go early in the standoff.

"Jamie didn’t do no harm to none of us," he said. "He treated us like family."

The camera-ready hostage taker was being held without bond on murder and other charges at the Hall County Jail.